(The following statement was released by the rating agency) NEW YORK, December 18 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings completed its review of its U.S. mid-tier regional bank peer group on Friday Dec. 15, 2017. Following the review, which generally covers banks with assets between $10 billion to $50 billion, a variety of rating actions were taken, including: --Wintrust Financial Corp (WTFC): upgraded to 'BBB+' from 'BBB'; Outlook Stable; --First National of Nebraska (FNNI): upgraded to 'BBB' from BBB-'; Outlook Stable; --Cathay Bank: upgraded to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'; Outlook Stable. The ratings of its holding company, Cathay General Bancorp (CATY), were affirmed at 'BB+'; Outlook Stable. --Synovus Financial Corp (SNV): ratings affirmed; Outlook revised to Positive; --First Horizon National Corp (FHN): ratings affirmed; Outlook remained Positive; --BankUnited, Inc. (BKU): ratings affirmed; Outlook revised to Negative. Finally, Fitch affirmed the ratings for the following other banks in the mid-tier regional peer group: --BOK Financial Corp (BOKF) --East West Bancorp, Inc. (EWBC) --Fulton Financial Corp (FULT) --Hilltop Holdings (HTH) --Trustmark Corp. (TRMK) --UMB Financial Corp (UMBF) --Umpqua Holdings Corp. (UMPQ) The Ratings Outlooks were Stable. Fitch has published Rating Action Commentaries for each of the mid-tier regional banks, available on www.fitchratings.com. The Rating Action Commentaries include each issuer's key rating drivers and rating sensitivities and lists of all the rating actions taken. For further discussion on the large regional bank sector in general, refer to the special report "U.S. Banks: Periodic Mid-tier Regional Peer Review" available soon on www.fitchratings.com. Contact: Bain K. Rumohr, CFA Director +1-312-368-3153 Fitch Ratings, Inc. 70 West Madison Street Chicago, IL 60602 Christopher Wolfe Managing Director +1-212-908-0771 Joo-Yung Lee Managing Director +1-212-908-0560 Media Relations: Sandro Scenga, New York, Tel: +1 212-908-0278, Email: sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com. Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: here. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEB SITE AT WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA, AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE, AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE CODE OF CONDUCT SECTION OF THIS SITE. DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS RELEVANT INTERESTS ARE AVAILABLE here. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.